Protecting sea bass stocks for the future
You might have seen there is a ban on fishing for sea bass and wondered why it is happening. Or perhaps you are confused as to why you can still buy sea bass in the frozen section of our online seafood market.
Why is there a ban on fishing for sea bass in February and March?
The ban was introduced by the EU in 2016 as an emergency measure due to a decline in stocks. Despite Brexit, the UK government have kept the bass recovery rules in place. This includes no commercial or recreational fishing for sea bass in February and March.
Our wild sea bass is caught by rod and line by Ian and Annie from their boat the Happy Hooker, making it one of the most sustainable species available. They have been fishing for bass since 2004.
Ian says: "The ban was brought in as an EU directive a few years ago because scientists said that spawning was below acceptable levels, and it is rigorously policed in the UK. Our boat is not designed to fish for anything else, so we use this time to carry out maintenance and get ready to head out fishing again when the sea bass returns from spawning, which, although the ban ends in April, is normally even later, so it's more like a three month ban in reality."
This is just one of the reasons you won't find all species on our menus all the time. There may be a fishing ban in place, fish may be spawning, or bad weather may have prevented the boats from getting out on the water.
Why are you still able to buy sea bass from us during the ban?
We were lucky enough to get some incredible quality rod and line caught sea bass from Ian and Annie while it was in abundance and at its best recently. We blast froze it right here on the quayside to lock in the freshness. That means we are still able to offer you this delicious specie during this time from the frozen section of our online seafood market.
Fishing is complex but you can trust that if you see a fish on our menu that it has been caught responsibly in well controlled south west waters or from MSC certified fisheries. So you can eat sea bass safe in the knowledge that it has been caught sustainably and the stocks are being well looked after for the future with this pause in fishing.
You might have seen there is a ban on fishing for sea bass and wondered why it is happening. Or perhaps you are confused as to why you can still buy sea bass in the frozen section of our online seafood market.
Why is there a ban on fishing for sea bass in February and March?
The ban was introduced by the EU in 2016 as an emergency measure due to a decline in stocks. Despite Brexit, the UK government have kept the bass recovery rules in place. This includes no commercial or recreational fishing for sea bass in February and March.
Our wild sea bass is caught by rod and line by Ian and Annie from their boat the Happy Hooker, making it one of the most sustainable species available. They have been fishing for bass since 2004.
Ian says: "The ban was brought in as an EU directive a few years ago because scientists said that spawning was below acceptable levels, and it is rigorously policed in the UK. Our boat is not designed to fish for anything else, so we use this time to carry out maintenance and get ready to head out fishing again when the sea bass returns from spawning, which, although the ban ends in April, is normally even later, so it's more like a three month ban in reality."
This is just one of the reasons you won't find all species on our menus all the time. There may be a fishing ban in place, fish may be spawning, or bad weather may have prevented the boats from getting out on the water.
Why are you still able to buy sea bass from us during the ban?
We were lucky enough to get some incredible quality rod and line caught sea bass from Ian and Annie while it was in abundance and at its best recently. We blast froze it right here on the quayside to lock in the freshness. That means we are still able to offer you this delicious specie during this time from the frozen section of our online seafood market.
Fishing is complex but you can trust that if you see a fish on our menu that it has been caught responsibly in well controlled south west waters or from MSC certified fisheries. So you can eat sea bass safe in the knowledge that it has been caught sustainably and the stocks are being well looked after for the future with this pause in fishing.
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